This invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having a locking member for an interface connector used for connecting between electronic appliances by an electric cable.
Prior art connectors having locking members will be explained referring to FIGS. 4a to 4d and FIGS. 5a and 5b.
The interface connector 64 is mostly composed of a main body 34, shells 36 and 30, locking members 46, and a hood 48. While the hood 48 formed as a single piece is shown in FIG. 4a, any other various configurations may be used instead of the shown hood, for example, a hood consisting of two halves (not shown) enclosing the shells, or instead of the hood a cover made of a plastic material, such as polyvinyl chloride integrally molded on the shells. The hood is made of a plastic material such as ABS. Although the hood as shown by numeral 48 is generally used to cover the shells 36 and 30 at present, the cover of polyvinyl chloride integrally molded on shells has been progressively widely used instead of the hood 48. Such a cover serves to obtain an appropriate flexibility of its cable holding portion 42 (FIG. 5a), inasmuch as its material is substantially the same as that of the sheath of the cable 44.
One example of the size of the interface connector 64 is a height of 11.5 mm, a length of 44 mm and a width which is variable depending upon the contact pitch and the number of cores.
Assembling steps of the interface connector 64 will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4d and 5a and 5b. A cable 44 preconditioned for connection is connected to the main body 34 by pressure-welding, butt-welding, soldering or the like. The main body 34 thus connected to the cable 44 is mounted in the shell 30 on which the shell 36 is then arranged and fixed thereto. Thereafter, the shells are subjected to calking at their portions adjacent to the cable. In the type of the connector (FIG. 5a) to be covered by the hood 48, the locking members 46 are mounted on the shell 36 on which in turn the hood 48 is then fitted. Whereas, in the type of the connector (FIG. 5b) to have an integrally molded cover, a plastic material such as polyvinyl chloride is integrally molded on the shells to form a cover and then the locking members 46 are mounted on the shell 36.
The shells 36 and 30 are made of a metal such as steel sheet worked by sheet metal processing and have a thickness of 0.5 mm.
How to mount the locking members 46 onto the shell 36 will be explained. The L-shaped aperture 62 of the locking member 46 is engaged on the projection 32 of the shell 36. After the projection 32 of the shell 36 has been inserted into the L-shaped aperture 62 of the locking member 46 as shown in FIG. 4c, the locking member 46 is once shifted in the direction C (FIG. 4d) and the locking member 46 in this state is then shifted in the direction D through a slight distance of the order of 2 mm, thereby mounting the locking member 46 on the shell 36. Another locking member 46 can also be mounted on the shell 36 on the opposite side in the same manner.
The locking member 46 comprises a knob portion 54, an engagement part 56 and an anchoring part 58. The engagement part 56 and the anchoring part 58 are made of a metal such as a steel sheet and have the thickness of 0.5 mm. The engagement part 56 includes the L-shaped aperture 62 for mounting the locking member 46 on the shell 30 and the anchoring part 58 includes protrusions 60 for hooking a mating connector (receptacle). The knob portion 54 is made of a plastic material such as ABS and formed by insert molding with the metal portion of the locking member 46.
FIG. 5b illustrates the connector immediately after the cover 40 has been integrally molded on the shells 36 and 30 but the locking members are not yet mounted. FIG. 5b also illustrates the state that a connector fitted with a hood 48 has detached the locking members therefrom. Starting from the state shown in FIG. 5b, the locking members are inserted into openings 31 of the hood 48 or integrally molded cover 40 so as to cause the engagement parts of the locking members to engage protrusions 32 of the shell 36. The opening 31 of the hood 48 or cover 40 has a height of the order of 9.5 mm viewed in FIG. 5b and a width perpendicular thereto of the order of 2 mm. The locking members have a height of the order of 9 mm and their engaging portions to be inserted into the hood have a thickness of the order of 1.5 mm.
With the above construction for mounting the locking members, it is required to move them in the two directions C and D for mounting the locking members on the shell as shown in FIG. 4d. In the case of the integral hood 48 or a split type hood consisting of two halves (not shown), after the locking members 46 have been mounted on the shells, the hood can be fitted thereon without any problem. In the case of the cover 40 integrally molded on the shells 36 and 30, however, if the locking members were mounted on the shells before molding the cover 40, the locking members would be immovably fixed thereat by the plastic material. It is therefore impossible to mount the locking members on the shells prior to the molding of the cover. On the other hand, in the case of using the hood 48, the mounting of the locking members after fitting of the hood is also impossible.
In more detail, the opening 31 of the hood 48 or integrally molded cover 40 is only slightly larger than the locking member 46 to leave the clearance therebetween of the order of 0.5 mm as described above, and the locking member is required to be moved in the two directions in its mounting operation within such a narrow clearance, these making it impossible to mount the locking members on the connector after the hood has been fitted or the cover has integrally molded. As can be seen from the above, the mounting method of the locking members of the prior art could not be applied to an interface connector using the integrally molded cover 40 or a connector already fitted with a hood 48.